Gap Campaign Integrates 'Add to Foursquare' Button

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First came Like. Then came Twitter. Then came Foursquare sitting in a Gap ad. OK, so that doesn't rhyme as well as the original but the point we're trying to make is that Foursquare has graduated to the level of relevancy that it can bnow be included as a call to action just like the URL and Twitter before it always were.

A new campaign for Gap features an Add to Foursquare button which, when clicked, adds a Gap To Do and offers a 30 percent discount. Mashable reports the online ads are also location aware allowing the To Do associated with a store to pop up when a person is nearby the location they choose.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-30-10    
Topic: Mobile/Wireless, Social



Sony's Bloggie Touch Video Contest Offers Free Ride to SXSW Music

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180LA is out with new work for Sony's new Bloggie Touch. Launching this week, the campaign is going after 18-25 year olds. The campaign will include a contest and Facebook application, with webcam upload and video editor built in, that lets consumers create their own "You had to be there" video.

Running until January 10, participants will have a chance to win Sony Bloggie Touch cameras with the Grand Prize Winner getting a VIP package for two to SXSW Music in March 2011.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-24-10    
Topic: Online, Social, Video



Soliel Moon Frye Gets $5,850 Per Paid Tweet

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Soliel Moon Frye, AKA Punky Brewster, who used to be a bigger celebrity - in more ways than one - than she is today, gets the big bucks for paid tweets according to her listing on IZEA's Sponsored Tweets.

Frye has 1,519,400 followers and a Klout score of 70.57 so she's likely worth the investment. And besides, she's really nice, too.

On the other end of the scale, Shavar Ross, who played the role of Arnold's friend Dudley on Diff'rent Strokes, gets just $15.29 per tweet. Damn, those Diff'rent Strokes kids just can't catch a break. But he does fare better than porn star Jerzi Lynn who commands $3.46 per tweet.

And Lindsay Lohan? She gets $2,985. But she hasn't tweeted since September 26 (hmm, wonder why) so she might not be the best buy for a marketer right about now.

by Steve Hall    Nov-24-10    
Topic: Social



Social Media Gets Slapped Upside the Head

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Writing on Advertising Age, brand strategists and author Jonathan Salem Baskin wrote, "The conventional wisdom of social marketing is an effort to breathe new life into the all but dead presumptions of branding, only with one small catch: It can't make it work, and the only way anybody can claim otherwise is to fudge the stats, time frames and expectations for tangible results."

Damn, dude! Them's fightin' words! You're going to have the social media guru army all over you in a matter of minutes. But you know what? You're right. Well, mostly. Social media isn't the cure to everything. It can help. But not to the seeming exclusion of all other forms of marketing...which appears to be what's happening these days.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-23-10    
Topic: Opinion, Social



Love Wine? There's a Facebook App For That

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The Bordeaux Wine Council is out with Bottles Away (demo), a Facebok application that challenges players to pick six wines from the shelves in 60 seconds that add up to $100 or less. At the end of your sixty seconds, the player is given the names and availability of the wines he or she has selected.

by Steve Hall    Nov-22-10    
Topic: Social



LinkedIn Bests Facebook in Infographic Grudge Match

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Playboy's The Smoking Jacket took a long look at Facebook and Linked in, pitted them against each other in an infographic grudge match and determined LinkedIn would come out on top. As it turns out, it's a battle between the tween/teen set and corporate stiffs. Unsexy as it may be, the corporate stiffs still have the upper hand.

See the full-on battle here.

by Steve Hall    Nov-16-10    
Topic: Social



Babies Curled, Kindle Calmed, Facebook Placed, Meester Gets Wang

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- It's not in English but the point is pretty clear: curling is a very, very strange sport.

- Amazon is out with a couple of less threatening Kindle ads that decidedly do not go head to head with Apple's iPad.

- Be sure to check out this week's Beancast in which some idiot named Steve Hall tries to sound like he knows what he's talking about when it comes to Facebook's new Deals offering.

- Murray Newlands is out with a new book, How to Make A Blog Book. Check out the Facebook page too.

- If you're Gossip Girl fan, you'll likely want to check out Leighton Meester in the new Vera Wang campaign when it breaks next summer. It's currently being shot in New York.

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by Steve Hall    Nov- 8-10    
Topic: Agencies, Celebrity, Podcast, Publishing, Social, Strange



Twitter Launches In-Stream Advertising

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Beginning today, Twitter will begin placing ads in users' timelines according to Advertising Age. This is different than the already launched Promoted Tweet which resides in a "sticky" position at the top of people's streams. The new ads will scroll down people's timelines just like a regular tweet.

The product is first launching to 900,000 users of the HootSuite Twitter client before it rolls out to all clients and twitter.com. twitter will share ad revenue with HootSuite. Ads will be targeted based on the content of a person's timeline and the brands they follow.

Virgin, Starbucks and Red Bull will be among the product's newest advertisers.

by Steve Hall    Nov- 1-10    
Topic: Social



Scott Monty Shares Ford's Social Media Success With Brian Solis

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During Blogworld Expo in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago, author and speaker Brian Solis sat down with Ford's social media guy, Scott Monty, to interview him about the recent introduction of the new Ford Explorer, a program that took the vehicle to the people versus the more traditional automotive journalist reveal approach.

The program, which included an eight-city vehicle tour and an integrated banner/Facebook campaign resulted in a 1.5 times increase (compared to in Build and Price, the process by which a person can build and price a customized vehicle online.

Also discussed was the introduction of the Ford Focus and the Focus Rally America, a program which gives six cars to six teams of two people and sets them off on an Amazing Race/Hulu co-sponsored race that will result in the winning team getting $100,000 and the ability to give away ten Ford Focus's to people who helped them along their journey.

Check out the full interview here or below.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-29-10    
Topic: Brands, Social



'Queen Meg' Protests Meg Whitman's Gubernatorial Bid

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Protesting Meg Whitman's stance on healthcare, medical record privacy and her general lack of political experience, the California Nurses Association has unleashed Queen Meg, part of a "sabotage bus tour" running up to California's Nov. 2 election. The Queen med Bus Tour will follow Meg Whitman along her campaign stops across Southern California.Nurses from the Los Angeles area will join the protest.

In addition to the tour, the California Nurses Association has launched a social media campaign using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

by Steve Hall    Oct-27-10    
Topic: Political, Social